Three teenage boys have admitted to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old Northern California girl who later committed suicide after photographs of the attack were circulated to classmates, according to published reports.

The San Jose Mercury News first reported the case, soon followed by the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday.

AP Photo/Eric RisbergSheila Pott, wipes her eyes standing in front of a photograph of her daughter, Audrie Pott, who committed suicide after a sexual assault as family representative Robert Allard, right, reads a statement during a news conference Monday, April 15, 2013 in San Jose, Calif.

In September, two 16-year-old boys admitted in Santa Clara County Juvenile Court to participating in the sexual assault and possessing photos of the girl, Audrie Pott, the newspapers reported, citing documents and other sources. Both crimes are felonies.

In addition, a 17-year-old boy admitted to the same two felonies, the papers said.

The boys’ names have not been released, but two have been ordered to serve 30 days — during weekends — in juvenile detention, and the third was sentenced to 45 consecutive days. That is in stark contrast to the maximum 10-year sentence they might have received as adults.

Their sentences are also more lenient than those imposed on two 16-year-olds in Steubenville, Ohio, who received one and two years in juvenile detention, respectively, in a case that has been widely compared to the Pott case.

Audrie Potts hanged herself on Sept. 10, 2012, eight days after attending a party at a friend’s house in Saratoga, Calif. After drinking Gatorade laced with alcohol, she fell asleep and later woke with her pants off and with lewd comments scribbled all over her body.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Awakening in a friend’s bedroom after drinking too much at a sleepover, 15-year-old Audrie Pott looked down and realized she had been sexually assaulted and her attackers had written and drawn on intimate parts of her body, her family’s attorney said Monday.

Over the next week, she pieced together one horrifying detail after another. She went online and tried to confront the three boys she had known since junior high who she believed had done it.

At school, she saw a group of students huddled around a cellphone and realized that at least one humiliating photo of her was circulating.

“I have a reputation for a night I don’t even remember and the whole school knows,” she wrote in one Facebook message to a friend.

“I cried when I found out what they did,” she wrote in another.

Eight days after the attack, she called and asked her mother to pick her up at school. She said she couldn’t deal with it anymore but would not say what was wrong.

And then she hanged herself.

The Pott family disclosed the new details of the ordeal at an emotional news conference Monday in San Jose, discussing painful details of what their daughter was put through and demanding that three 16-year-old boys arrested eight months after the assault be tried as adults — a move that would be highly unlikely under California law.

The family also filed a lawsuit Monday against the three suspects and their parents, claiming the boys removed Audrie’s shorts and “digitally penetrated her, and/or penetrated her with a foreign object, and/or sexually abused her” after she drank alcohol and passed out.

The boys arrested in the case are each charged with sexual battery, dissemination of child pornography and possession of child pornography. Under California law, such less severe charges are filed if a victim was unconscious and did not have the ability to fight off a sexual assault.

Audrie’s mother, Sheila Pott, said she hopes to change that with a new “Audrie’s Law.”

“I want to take serious steps to see that this doesn’t happen to another one of our children,” she said.

I want to take serious steps to see that this doesn’t happen to another one of our children

The parents of the friend where the party was held are also being sued by Audrie’s family, with the suit claiming the parents of the friend had a “duty to prevent” parties from taking place at their home.

Sgt. Mike Leininger, a retired San Jose police detective hired by the family’s attorney to investigate the case, said interviews of people at the party showed the suspects were sober at the time of the attack in Saratoga, a bedroom community on the fringe of Silicon Valley.

However, a police report obtained by the San Jose Mercury News said the suspects told authorities during the initial investigation that they did drink at the party.

The police report also says witnesses told investigators the three suspects took the drunken Audrie to sleep in an upstairs room then assaulted her.

Eric Risberg / The Associated PressA board filled with messages for Audrie Pott, who committed suicide after a sexual assault, is displayed during a news conference on Monday in San Jose, Calif.

The report says the attackers pulled off her shorts and partially removed her bra, exposing her breasts, the newspaper reported. Markings were found on her chest, legs, back and near her genitalia.

“They wrote ’Blank Was Here,’ on her leg,” said family attorney Robert Allard, not using the actual name because the suspect is a juvenile. “They marked her.”

Lisa Pott, the stepmother of Audrie, said the three suspects were removed from the football team after her suicide but weren’t expelled from school, despite their pleas to the principal.

She said Audrie had been dealing with bullying problems at school prior to the assault, and the family had asked the principal for help last spring.

They wrote ’Blank Was Here,’ on her leg

Jane Marashian, a spokeswoman for the school district, said officials had no comment in response to that claim.

Attorney Eric Geffon, who represents one of the three suspects, told The Associated Press that attorneys representing all three will have a statement Tuesday after a hearing in Juvenile Court.

Geffon said the boys were cited last fall but no formal charges were filed against them until Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies arrested two boys at Saratoga High School and a third, a former Saratoga High student, at Christopher High in Gilroy where he currently was a student. They have been held in the county juvenile detention centre since Thursday.

Audrie Pott’s father, mother and stepmother said they were outraged by what they see as a refusal to take responsibility by the teens. Lawrence Pott, the girl’s father, said he was astounded that defence lawyers for the three denied a link between the assault and the humiliating photo and his daughter’s decision to end her life.

With no assault, with no cyberbullying, Audrie is in art class right now. What they did was disgusting

“With no assault, with no cyberbullying, Audrie is in art class right now,” he said, his voice breaking as he held back tears. “What they did was disgusting.”

Audrie spent two days on life support after she hanged herself, according to the family’s lawsuit.

The AP does not routinely identify victims of sexual assault. But in this case, Pott’s family wanted her name and case known, Allard said. The family also provided a photo to the AP.

The arrests and the details that came spilling out shocked many in this prosperous Silicon Valley suburb of 30,000 and have drawn international attention, especially coming just after two other similar episodes recently in the news — a suicide in Canada and a rape in Steubenville, Ohio.

“I have to say we were unprepared for the amount of media attention that we are getting,” said Lisa Pott, mother of Audrie’s three younger siblings. “Not only is this scary and intimidating, but just as we thought we might be starting to heal, it rips open the wound and reminds us of everything our family lost.”

The family of a 15-year-old California girl who killed herself after photos of a sexual assault surfaced online says they suspect the boys accused in the attack tried to destroy evidence.

Audrie Pott’s family posted the message on Friday on the Facebook page of a foundation they set up in the girl’s name. They are asking any students who may have information to come forward.

The Santa Clara County sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the family’s allegations.

The sheriff’s office arrested three 16-year-old boys on Thursday in the 2012 attack.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VghFQDHsjMs&w=640&h=390]

Eight days after being sexually assaulted while passed out at a party, and then humiliated by online photos, 15-year-old Pott posted on Facebook that her life was ruined, “worst day ever,” and hanged herself, the family’s lawyer said.

For the next eight months, her family struggled to figure out what happened to their soccer loving, artistic, horse crazy daughter, whose gentle smile, long dark hair and shining eyes belied a struggling soul.

And then on Thursday, seven months after the tragedy, a California sheriff’s office arrested three 16-year-old boys on suspicion of sexual battery. The arrests “reopened a wound” for family members of Pott, and they have gone into seclusion, family attorney Robert Allard said.

“The family has been trying to understand why their loving daughter would have taken her life at such a young age and to make sure that those responsible would be held accountable,” Allard said.

“After an extensive investigation that we have conducted on behalf of the family, there is no doubt in our minds that the victim, then only 15 years old, was savagely assaulted by her fellow high school students while she lay on a bed completely unconscious,” he said.

Allard said students used cell phones to share photos of the assaults and the images went viral.

After an extensive investigation that we have conducted on behalf of the family, there is no doubt in our minds that the victim, then only 15 years old, was savagely assaulted by her fellow high school students while she lay on a bed completely unconscious

Santa Clara County sheriff’s Lt. Jose Cardoza said two of the teens were arrested at Saratoga High School and the third, a former Saratoga High student, at Christopher High School in Gilroy. The names of the suspects were not released because they are minors. Details about the assault were also not released.

Cardoza said the suspects were booked into juvenile hall and face two felonies and one misdemeanor each.

The lieutenant said the arrests were the result of information gathered by his agency’s Saratoga High School resource officers. He said the investigation is ongoing, and Los Gatos police also continue looking into the girl’s September suicide.

The Associated Press does not routinely identify victims of sexual assault. But in this case, Pott’s family wanted her name and case known, Allard said. The family also provided a photo to the AP.

The girl’s family members have not commented and have requested privacy until a planned news conference Tuesday. Her father and step-mother, Lawrence and Lisa Pott, along with her mother Sheila Pott, have started the Audrie Pott Foundation to provide music and art scholarships and offer youth counseling and support.

The foundation website alludes to the teen’s struggles, but until now neither law enforcement, school officials nor family have discussed the sexual assault.

“She was compassionate about life, her friends, her family, and would never do anything to harm anyone,” the site says. “She was in the process of developing the ability to cope with the cruelty of this world but had not quite figured it all out.

She was compassionate about life, her friends, her family, and would never do anything to harm anyone. She was in the process of developing the ability to cope with the cruelty of this world but had not quite figured it all out

“Ultimately, she had not yet acquired the antibiotics to deal with the challenges present for teens in today’s society.”

Two days after Pott died, fellow students and staff at Saratoga High School wore her favorite color, teal, in her honor.

“Our sympathies go out to all of the families affected by this tragic situation,” Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District Superintendent Bob Mistele said in a statement. “Collaborating with our parents, students, staff and community we will continue to work diligently to maintain a positive climate at our high schools based on respect, responsibility, and open communication that discourages cyber bullying and inappropriate conduct.”

Collaborating with our parents, students, staff and community we will continue to work diligently to maintain a positive climate at our high schools based on respect, responsibility, and open communication that discourages cyber bullying and inappropriate conduct

The Pott family is not alone.

In Canada on Thursday, authorities said they were looking further into the case of a teenage girl who hanged herself Sunday after an alleged rape and months of bullying. A photo said to be of the 2011 assault was shared online.

No charges initially were filed against four teenage boys being investigated. But after an outcry, Nova Scotia’s justice minister appointed four government departments to look into the case.

Need help? Call Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 or reach out online atkidshelpphone.ca

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Eight days after being sexually assaulted by friends while passed out at a party, and then humiliated by online photos, 15-year-old Audrie Pott posted on Facebook that her life was ruined, “worst day ever,” and hanged herself, the family’s lawyer said.

For the next eight months, her family struggled to figure out what happened to their soccer-loving, artistic, horse-crazy daughter, whose gentle smile, long dark hair and shining eyes belied a struggling soul.

And then on Thursday, a California sheriff’s office arrested three 16-year-old boys on suspicion of sexual battery. The arrests “reopened a wound” for family members of Pott, and they have gone into seclusion, family attorney Robert Allard said.

“The family has been trying to understand why their loving daughter would have taken her life at such a young age and to make sure that those responsible would be held accountable,” Allard said.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VghFQDHsjMs&w=640&h=360]

“After an extensive investigation that we have conducted on behalf of the family, there is no doubt in our minds that the victim, then only 15 years old, was savagely assaulted by her fellow high school students while she lay on a bed completely unconscious,” he said.

Allard said students used cellphones to share photos of the September 2012 assault, and the images went viral.

He said Friday that the girl saw an intimate photo being passed around online and pieced together from emails and text messages that her friends had victimized her while she slept.

The family has been trying to understand why their loving daughter would have taken her life at such a young age

Allard did not provide additional details about how she was assaulted but he said she had fallen asleep after drinking at a sleepover.

Family members of the girl said on Friday they suspect the attackers tried to destroy evidence. The family claim was posted on a Facebook page for a foundation set up in her name. It did not provide further details, and the Santa Clara County sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Santa Clara County sheriff’s Lt. Jose Cardoza said the suspects were booked into juvenile hall and face two felonies and one misdemeanour each. Their names were not released because they are minors. Details about the assault were also not released.

Cardoza said the investigation is ongoing.

There is no doubt in our minds that the victim, then only 15 years old, was savagely assaulted by her fellow high school students while she lay on a bed completely unconscious

The Associated Press does not routinely identify victims of sexual assault. But in this case, Pott’s family wanted her name and case known, Allard said. The family also provided a photo to the AP.

The girl’s family members did not comment and have requested privacy until a planned news conference Tuesday. Her father and step-mother Lawrence and Lisa Pott, along with her mother Sheila Pott, have started the Audrie Pott Foundation to provide music and art scholarships and offer youth counselling and support.

The foundation website alludes to the teen’s struggles, but until now law enforcement, school officials and family had not discussed the sexual assault.

“She was compassionate about life, her friends, her family, and would never do anything to harm anyone,” the site says. “She was in the process of developing the ability to cope with the cruelty of this world but had not quite figured it all out.

“Ultimately, she had not yet acquired the antibiotics to deal with the challenges present for teens in today’s society.”

She was in the process of developing the ability to cope with the cruelty of this world but had not quite figured it all out

The Pott family is not alone.

In Canada, authorities said Friday they were reopening an investigation into the case of a teenage girl who hanged herself Sunday after an alleged rape and months of bullying. A photo said to be of the 2011 assault was shared online.

No charges initially were filed against four teenage boys being investigated. But after an outcry, Nova Scotia’s justice minister appointed four government departments to look into the case.

Need help? Call Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 or reach out online atkidshelpphone.ca